Lorado Taft (1860-1936), the first midwestern American sculptor, pioneered in large group compositions and in the use of nontraditional materials. His lectures and writing helped create a national concern for art.

Born in Elmwood, Ill., on April 29, 1860, Lorado Taft grew up in Urbana, along with the new State Industrial University (now the University of Illinois). There his preacher father, Don Carlos Taft, an Amherst graduate, taught a group of sciences, including anatomy. While working in the new art museum, 14-year-old Lorado decided to become a sculptor. After he received a master's degree in 1880, he left for Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He also broadened his outlook by contacts with the impressionist painters and with the sculptor Auguste Rodin.

In 1887 Taft settled in Chicago; in 1896 he married Ada Bartlett, by whom he had three daughters. To support the family, Taft taught at the Chicago Art Institute...